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As you all know I am now back at home on the beautiful island of Maui in the island state of Hawaii. Alright, alright, I know what you’re thinking, there goes Nalu again, throwing his awesome state into all of our faces. Trust me though, there’s a point to it I promise. Ohana, or family, in the Hawaiian culture is something that is highly valued. Unlike the traditional meaning of “family,” it is much more encompassing than just those with which you share the same blood. It includes many of your close friends throughout your island community. That is because in our culture, we’ve always believed that it truly does take a community to raise a child. Therefore, many of us are family.

Now, how does this tie into Phi Tau? Well, from the moment that we were associated, though we will soon be initiated as ‘official’ brothers, we joined the nationwide Phi Tau family. Our Phi Tau family was born 1906 in Ohio and is still growing today. The community that raises us includes much more than just the elders and advisors that lie in West Lafayette; rather, everyone that volunteers with and works for nationals to create the programs that train us to be the leaders that we are today is part of our family. Within our Phi Tau Ohana, we have our Lambda Ohana. Our Lambda Ohana was born in 1920, and other than a little hiccup from 2006-2010, it too has started off strong and growing.

Above all though, for us, an Ohana that is much, much larger than our Phi Tau Ohana is our Purdue Ohana. Yes, being a part of a fraternity could possibly be one of the greatest experiences of your life, but none of it would be possible without a university. For us, that university is Purdue. I am damn proud to call myself a Boilermaker. As I was on the first leg of my journey home to the Sandwich Islands last evening – a Southwest Airlines direct service from Indianapolis to Las Vegas – the connection of my love for Purdue and the vastness of its Ohana finally hit me. I sat in the first row, port side, aisle seat, and started talking with the guy who sat in the middle of myself and this elder man who took the window seat.

During the conversation we got to talking about where I went to school and it came out that I was attending Purdue. The old man, soon after hearing that, interrupted our conversation saying, “Did I hear Purdue?” I then said, “Yes, sir.” He then extended his hand an said, “Civil engineering, class of 1950.” I didn’t realize this till I was boarding my next flight, but his class is the class that donated the money for the CL50 lecture hall. That’s was a tangent, but what I want you to take away from this is that remember that you are always part of an Ohana, and whether it is Phi Tau or Purdue, know that you are cared for. We are all behind you and rooting for you to succeed! Hail Purdue!!

This is not so much a blog as it is a personal challenge that I am pushing towards all of you who are reading this. For the next 10 weeks as many of you know, I will be back at home in the great state of Hawaii. That’s 70 days, 24 hours, 100,800 minutes, and 6,048,000 seconds of my life on an island. Yes, yes I know many of you feel so bad for me. This though for me was a very tough choice to make given the factors that are currently coming at me full speed ahead. For example, real life starts after graduation on December 16, student loans repayments start coming in, and the never ending bills upon bills upon bills start knocking on your door. All of this requires a great job, in a place that you will hopefully enjoy. For me that is the west coast, hopefully southern California. Now I know your sitting there thinking what does any of this have to do with this 70 day challenge? Well, if I am going to spend my summer in Maui instead of working more directly with my future goals, I know I need to be using my time wisely. I am challenging myself and all of you to beat the previous day’s achievements every day. You know what you’ve accomplished and are the sole determinant who knows if you won the next day. I am doing it and will be keeping a log of it throughout the summer. Heck it doesn’t have to just be throughout the summer, this could be something that you integrate into your everyday life. So, what are you waiting for, get started! Good Luck!
-Nalu